The importance of taking a break
My first day in Sevilla, Spain, I was greeted with a delicious lunch of pollo y patatas and an afternoon siesta. A siesta is a short nap taken often in the midday, and for the host family that I have the opportunity of living with, it is one of the most cherished parts of Spanish culture. During this time, many shops close, and the Sevillanos seek sanctuary from the blazing September sun. The typical workday in Spain is 9am-2pm, and 4pm-8pm. As a result, the two precious hours in between are reserved for a good meal and rest.
Coming from the fast-paced, no naps, work culture of the United States, I found it hard to let myself rest in the middle of the day. I didn’t feel rested, I felt anxious and lazy as a to-do list spontaneously started zipping through my brain.
Similarly, Drake Ives ’22 said, “American culture doesn’t respect nap time. Growing up I wasn’t allowed to take naps in my house because I was told that people who nap are lazy. Sometimes I wish that I didn’t even require sleep because I feel like I don’t even have time for that.”
It wasn’t until after I made myself forget American cultural norms that I was able to fully reap the benefits of the siesta. According to the Sleep Foundation, “Napping is one way to reduce sleep debt and its negative impacts.”
As college students, we know the reality of sleep debt, which is the difference between the seven to nine hours of recommended sleep for adults and the chronic reality of the few hours that students actually have to sleep.
However, between classes, study sessions, club meetings, jobs, and having a social life, sleep debt is inevitable. According to a study by the University of Georgia, most college students get 6 hours of sleep per night. This statistic demonstrates that college students could benefit from adopting a siesta time into their daily routine.
For most college students the opportunity for naps comes few and far inbetween. Mae Mae Joseph ’22, said, “I don’t always have time to take a nap, but I always feel like I need one.”
However, making the effort to schedule a short time for a siesta in between classes, even if just once a week, could be a way for students to feel more rested as well as experience an aspect of Spanish culture. Caroline Main ’22 said, “I would love to have a designated nap time where everyone naps so that we can actually have better sleep schedules.”
